Pressurized fluids, such as liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons, steam, water, etc., can be transported and directed through piping networks. Various pressurized valve configurations are used to direct and condition fluid flow through the networks, such as, for example, pressure relief valves, emergency shutdown valves, blowdown valves, flapper valves, ball valves and pressure reducing valves, also called chokes.
Some valves provide the capability to vent a portion of the fluids to an alternative routing path, such as to the surrounding atmosphere, when an upper or lower pressure threshold is reached, as some types of normally closed pressure relief valves. It is known to provide removable weather covers on vertically extending vent conduits to prevent foreign matter intrusion, such as in to the vent conduits. It is also known to tether such covers so that, should a pressure relief valve be tripped to open, blowing the cover off the vent conduit, and providing indication of a blow by incident. One such exemplary weather cap assembly is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,282 to Kenny.
While operable, weather covers such as taught by the Kenny '282 patent generally only serve to provide visual notification when a pressure relief valve has opened, and do not enable detection of other deleterious conditions, such as the presence of a leak through a closed valve. Accordingly, there remains a continual need for improvements in the monitoring of pressurized fluid systems to maximize indicia signaling change in operational conditions.